


Through Sickness and Health

by the_technicolor_whiscash



Category: Pride and Prejudice (1995), Pride and Prejudice (2005), Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Confessions of love, Do people still call things sickfics? Because that’s what’s this is, F/M, Holding Hands, Illness, Kissing, all of that fluffy stuff that i love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 15:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13744287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_technicolor_whiscash/pseuds/the_technicolor_whiscash
Summary: Upon her visit to Pemberley, Lizzy falls ill, allowing her some time to reconsider her thoughts on one Fitzwilliam Darcy.





	Through Sickness and Health

**Author's Note:**

> It’s one am and I really wanted to write this so here it is

Lizzy didn’t know how it had happened. One minute, she was perfectly healthy. The next, she was struck with a high fever. And it couldn’t have come at a worst time. No, it had to come when her and her aunt and uncle were visiting Pemberley, of all places. 

“Lizzy, are you quite alright?” Her aunt asked, upon seeing her sway. “You look awfully pale.”

“I feel rather ill. If I could just sit down somewhere…” She landed with a thud in an unbelievably ornate chair in the hall. Though it was quite stunning, it was also rather uncomfortable. 

“My, you certainly don’t look well.” Her aunt put a hand to her forehead. “Fever. We should return to the inn at once.”

“Nonsense, you two continue. I’ll wait here until you’re ready to leave.”

“Are you sure? I’d be perfectly fine with leaving now.” 

“No, no. Go ahead and enjoy yourselves.”

“Well, if you insist.” Her aunt replied, seeming quite content to stay exploring. 

Lizzy sat in the hall, hoping that perhaps this was some kind of momentary illness that would pass quickly. However, the longer she sat, the worse she felt. Her whole body was on fire, and she felt incredibly lightheaded. She barely noticed when a figure, clothed in a dark coat, appeared in front of her. 

“Miss Elizabeth, are you quite alright?”

Lizzy jolted out of her daze, realizing just who was standing in front of her. “I apologize, Mr Darcy, I didn’t see you there. I’m quite fine. I… I thought you were not supposed to be returning to Pemberley for some time.”

“I had some business to attend to here. I’ve already spoken with your aunt and uncle, and I’ve no problem with you touring the house.” His expression never wavered from concern. “You do look quite pale, are you sure you’re alright?”

“It’s just my fair complexion. I’m the picture of health, I assure you. In fact, I should be leaving.” 

She stood up, but her legs did not seem to agree with that movement, and she found herself swaying forewords, collapsing into the nearest available object, which just so happened to be Darcy’s arms. 

Darcy steadied her, before putting her arm around his neck. “You’re definitely not the picture of health. Come on. I have plenty of spare rooms. We can call a doctor as soon as I get you settled.”

“Please, Mr Darcy, I’m alright. Just bring me out to my carriage, and I’ll head back to the inn where we’ve been staying.” 

“No. You’d be better off staying here.”

She didn’t want to admit it, but he was probably right. So instead, she remained silent until they reached the door to a bedroom. Naturally, the room was as ornately decorated as the rest of the house, with an elaborate four-poster bed, magnificent curtains, and whatever could be inlaid with gold was inlaid with gold. It was all rather gaudy, but it likely wasn’t a room that Darcy himself spent much time in. 

Lizzy sat herself down on the bed, grateful to be somewhere more comfortable than that awful chair. “I’m sure I’ll be fine in a few minutes. Just give me some time.”

“I’ll go inform your aunt and uncle of your condition, then fetch a doctor. Just rest for now.”

“I…” 

Before she could finish her sentence, he was gone. Though she didn’t exactly want to stay there, given her complicated history with Mr Darcy, with the way her condition was deteriorating, it was looking like she would end up spending far longer there than initially intended. 

Lizzy’s aunt, of course, was quite distressed by the sudden turn of events, and wrote out a letter to Mrs Bennet. Lizzy hoped that she would be healthy before the letter even reached her mother, so she would be spared the embarrassment of her mother coming to Pemberley and interacting in any way with the Darcy family. 

The doctor soon came, diagnosing Lizzy with a fever (which came as no surprise to anyone), and proposing bedrest as the cure. After the doctor left, Lizzy wanted to leave immediately, but Darcy insisted on her and her relatives staying. 

“But Mr Darcy, I would hate for us to impose.” Lizzy said, desperately trying to find a way out of this situation. 

“I have more than enough rooms for your aunt and uncle, and enough servants to tend to an army. Trust me, you are not imposing.”

“We weren’t even supposed to be in your house. Then again, neither were you.”

“Plans can change. Your uncle said that he’s taking the carriage to the inn to retrieve your belongings.”

So it seemed like this really was happening, then. Lizzy wanted to protest more, wanted to argue until the next day broke, but she found herself weak. This damn fever was impeding her ability to contradict Darcy in the ways she most enjoyed. All the more reason why she hoped it would break quickly. “I am sorry that we appeared in your house without asking.”

“It’s fine. You had no idea I would be returning.” 

“Why is it that everything I do is fine? I appear in your house, you have no problem with it. I call you a vain, prideful man, you tell me I’m right. Why?” Lizzy snapped, immediately realizing her rudeness only after she had said it. 

Darcy’s expression fell. He looked almost like a kicked puppy, or a kitten left out in the rain. “You know why, Miss Bennet.” He sped towards the door. 

“Darcy. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it!” She yelled after him. But it was too late. He was already gone. 

——————

The next few days were excruciating. She spent most of her time asleep, and when she wasn’t asleep, she was having fits of fevers and chills, nearly delirious from sickness. Usually her aunt was with her, though once or twice she did catch a glimpse of Darcy, who left the room immediately after she would awaken. 

Lizzy regretted what she had said. She regretted it immensely. She knew exactly why Darcy did what he did, and said what he said. He was absolutely, wholeheartedly in love with her, even after she had rejected him and stomped his ego into the mud. How he still carried these feelings after how she had acted towards him, she had no idea. But she was now finding that she was feeling something towards him, too. Something far different from the disdain she had felt in the past. 

She awoke, several days later, finding herself feeling slightly less terrible. However, upon waking, she felt the unmistakable feeling of a hand holding hers. When her eyes flickered open, the hand – which, naturally, belonged to Mr Darcy – disappeared, and its owner retreated towards the door again. 

“Darcy. Wait.” Lizzy said, her voice barely much more than a whisper. 

Darcy froze, before turning back towards her. “What is it?”

“Don’t leave.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, Darcy returned to the chair at her bedside. “If it’s what you want, I’ll stay.”

“Yes. I… I’m sorry for what I said. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“I know. You’re ill. I didn’t take it personally.”

“Well, it seems to me like you did. You leave the room every time I wake up.”

He smiled slightly, the walls around his personality disappearing briefly. “I suppose you’re right. I was avoiding you. But you made it fairly clear that you didn’t wish to see me.”

“I just… I don’t see how you can still carry such a regard for me, after how rude we’ve been towards each other.”

“No one is perfect. And our difference in social class was bound to stir up a difference in opinions.”

Without thinking, Lizzy reached out and grabbed his hand. “How can you still love me after all that we’ve been through?”

“Because I… I love you for who you are. Your sharp wit, clever banter, resistance to anything thrown at you… every time we speak, I find myself falling in love with you more.” He rubbed his thumb against her knuckles. “I’m sorry if that sounds soppy. But it’s the truth.”

Lizzy felt it again. That feeling that she had been beginning to feel towards Darcy. And she could bring herself to deny it no longer. “It’s not soppy. In fact, I rather appreciate it.”

“That’s good.” It was only then that Lizzy realized that Darcy’s face was bright red. She had never seen him look sheepish, much less blush like a schoolboy with a crush. 

All of a sudden, her aunt entered the room. Darcy released Lizzy’s hand and stood, before making his way towards the door. “I should be going.” He left without saying another word. 

Lizzy was left speechless. A few more seconds and she might have told him that she loved him, but instead, her aunt burst in, ruining the moment. 

“Lizzy, it’s good to see you awake.” Her aunt said, taking Darcy’s place in the chair. “How are you feeling?”

Lizzy’s eyes remained on the door. “Better. Not fully better, but at least slightly so.”

“Well, that’s good. What were you talking with Mr Darcy about? He seems like a very agreeable young man, nothing like how you described him.”

“He is. Or at least, he is now. We were just making small talk.”

Her aunt raised an eyebrow. “Small talk that has you very distracted. It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me, Lizzy, but whatever it is, your secret would be safe with me.”

Lizzy sighed. It would be good to get it off of her chest. “Not too long ago, Mr Darcy… proposed to me. I turned him down, in every form of the term. But since then, I’ve gotten to know who he is better. And I fear that I’ve developed feelings for him.”

Her aunt smiled reassuringly. “Do not fear matters of the heart, Lizzy. Though it may seem intimidating at first, it often turns out alright in the end.”

“What should I do, then? Should I tell him?”

“Do you know if he still carries feelings for you?”

“Yes. Very much so.”

“Then I think it would be in your best interest to tell him. At least then, you’re not keeping it bottled up anymore.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

——————

Mrs Bennet sent a letter in reply, stating that as much as she wished she could come to Pemberley to see Lizzy (and the estate), she was much too busy and at too great a distance to make a reasonable journey. And for that, Lizzy was incredibly glad. She was feeling much better already, and for her mother to visit would just take up too much time. 

Darcy now visited her daily, sometimes more than once. And though she was glad to see him, she couldn’t find a way to properly get to the subject of her newly-discovered love. Somehow, she was still afraid that either of them might change their minds. She didn’t want to wake up in ten years and find herself laying beside a man whom she didn’t wish to be with. But every time she caught his gaze, and they both quickly glanced to the ground and forgot what it was they had been talking about, she knew she was being silly. 

When she was feeling almost to herself again, she decided that she would simply have to do it. So when Darcy entered her room, she would take his hand and tell him that she now reciprocated his feelings. But as time ticked by, he still had not shown up. Eventually, she called one of the servants up, and they informed her that Darcy had gone into town on business, and would likely return in the morning. 

Of course. The one time she makes up her mind, her plans are thrown out the window like a bucket of dirty water. Finding herself incredibly perturbed, she wrapped herself up in her blanket, slipped out of her room and down the stairs, eventually finding herself in the expansive backyard of Pemberley. She sat for a while under the shade of a tree, until the sun began to set. That was when she heard the sound of footsteps coming up from behind her. This time, she could guess who it was. 

“Miss Bennet.”

“Mr Darcy.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better, thank you.” She moved slightly to the side, so that there was room to lean against the tree beside her. “Care to join me?”

“Gladly.”

Mr Darcy took his spot beside her, very obviously trying to avoid any brush of the elbows. She smiled, before taking his hand into hers. It just felt so comfortable, so right to be next to him, to be close to him in such a way. “Mr Darcy, there is something I must tell you.”

“I hesitate to think of what it might be.” 

“Don’t fret. It’s nothing negative. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.” She took a deep breath. Her stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. “I find that, over the past several months, I have gotten to know you more as a person. And through that, I now realize that I… I am quite in love with you.”

Darcy’s eyes widened. “Are you really? Because if your feelings have changed, and are no longer what they were a few months ago, my offer still stands. I wish for no other woman to be my wife.”

Lizzy brought her other hand up to his face, cupping it, slowly rubbing her thumb along his lips. “Yes. I dare say you’ve worn me down. But every time I look at you, I cannot help but want to do this.”

She leaned in, pressing her lips against his. He gratefully accepted, and returned the kiss as passionately as a kiss can get. Lizzy’s hand snuck around to the back of Darcy’s head, carding its way through his hair. 

When they finally separated, Lizzy pressed her forehead against Darcy’s. He seemed so surprised, so grateful at the sudden turn of events, that he was left speechless. 

“I love you, Miss Elizabeth Bennet.” Was all he managed to get out. 

“And I love you, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy.”

**Author's Note:**

> I watched p&p earlier today actually and man do I love romance


End file.
